Classic Poetry

Award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti recites Shakespeare's Sonnet #36.

Award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti recites Shakespeare’s Sonnet 80, where he refers to a mystery rival poet.

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet #30 read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti.

William Shakespeare’s 73rd sonnet read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti.

In this haunting poem, a guest on his way to a wedding reception is stopped by the Ancient Mariner. With his "glittering eye" he transfixes the guest and then relates a compelling tale of a sea voyage fraught with strange happenings. The Mariner tells of journeying through tyrannous storms to ice mast-high, through mist and snow to the deadly inertia of the doldrums. There are unearthly visitations, ill omens, and supernatural happenings - all leading to the revelation of the Mariner's strange fate.

"Cautionary Tales", humorous poems with an implausible moral, are the most widely known of Hilaire Belloc's writings. Supposedly for children, they, like Lewis Carroll's works, are more to adult and satirical tastes. Here, Joyce Grenfell reads a selection.

The styles and rhythms of English can vary fully as much as in poetry. Therefore to compliment The Anthology Of English Poetry, The Anthology Of English Prose aims to enchant with the best of English prose, and to illustrate the ways in which each great writer has bent the language to his will. The recordings were made in the 1950s by members of the University of Cambridge and directed by George Rylands.

Narrated in Middle English by J.B. Bessinger, Jr.

John Pollen (1855-1923) was an official in the Indian Civil Service. A keen linguist, he learned Russian, Esperanto, and Persian and in 1915 published an English translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. His collection contains 158 quatrains and includes a set of seven prefatory quatrains by Andrew Lang and a foreword by the Aga Khan.

A truly sweet poem narrated by voice actor Ann M. Richardson. Short, but sure to enthrall the child in all of us.

All children love traditional rhymes. Popular rhymes make Books with Holes a must for every child. Download this audiobook version now!

All children love this traditional rhyme, and singing along will help to develop number skills. Popular rhymes make this book a must for every child.

Majestic in its own simplicity. Inscribed above the portal, from afar. Conspicuous as the brightness of a star. Legible only by the light they give. Stand the soul-quickening words - believe, and live....

"...The just Creator condescends to write, In beams of inextinguishable light, His names of wisdom, goodness, power, and love, On all that blooms below, or shines above; To catch the wandering notice of mankind, And teach the world, if not perversely blind...."

Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight by Rosa Hartwick Thorpe: Through an act of heroism a woman saves her lover, who was destined to be executed in The Tower of London at the ringing of the curfew. Towser Shall Be Tied Tonight by Unknown: A Parody of Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight. Instead of taking place in the majestic and historic Tower of London, the story takes place on a farm in Kansas and the threat to Love is the dreaded dog Towser.

Little children need tales and stories, for they play an essential part in their development by awakening their imagination, introducing them to symbolic imagery, and bringing forth emotions in a healthy, constructive way. Our audiobook collection means to bring together the fairy tales, stories, myths and legends which have fed the children of many generations in the years when the imagination is awakening and craving stimulus and material to work upon.

A classical collection of recitations by the master narrator Zia Mohyeddin. Volume 10 includes: "Angrezi Adab Para"; "Ek Tukra"; "Kuttay", by Sir Syed Ahmad; "Josh Malih Abadi"; "Nazm Noon Meem Rashid"; "Nazm Meera Jee"; "Khat Mohammad Ali Redolvi"; "Baccha Nahin Hota"; "Ghazal Nasir Kazmi"; "Al Shajri", by Azeem Baig Chughtai: "Nazm", by Noon Meem Rashid; "Ghazal", by Faiz; and "Ghazal", by Faiz and Khamooshi.

Edgar Allan Poe's classic narrative poem recounts the story of raven's visit to a mourning narrator. The narrator laments the loss of his love, Lenore.

On Christmas Eve, Annie and Willie, two motherless children, go to bed crying because their father has denied the existence of Santa Clause. Will their prayer be answered? Will the Yuletide spirit return to their home? Find out in this Victorian classic. First published in 1885, and written in verse, this illustrated Christmas bedtime story is guaranteed to tug at the heartstrings.